“Do you know," Peter asked, "why swallows build in the eaves of houses? It is to listen to the stories.” ~ J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

9.06.2009

Verano, adios

Yesterday.

In just a few more minutes, the lake would match,

growing orange to meet the falling sun,

then black to greet the moon.

There were 5 of us in the boat,

saying goodbye to the day,

hello to the evening,

saying goodbye to summer,

hello to fall.

6 if you count the dog,

and we do, so 6 of us.

Verano, adios.

Where did you go?

You were filled with the busy-ness/business of art, with self discovery, with the still-saying-goodbye to an old friend. You were filled with long, but still too short days, with heat, with politics filling the television, radio, internet, with baseball and homegrown tomatoes and the happiness of a cat still here, despite all the odds. You, like that cat, are still here, still not yet gone, but setting like that sun above the lake, days left until it is official; tonight a party in your honor will see toasts offered to the gifts you brought us.

Today is filled with joy, a bit of melancholy and anticipation hiding under our smiles and laughter. Lily the cat smells like gingerbread when I nuzzle her neck, Maggie the cat smells like the last of summer sunshine. The days of strawberries and fresh okra are leaving us - already high school football games are here; driving in the earlier dark of a Friday evening, I switched the car radio from station to station, smiling at the sheer number of games broadcast. It is Texas, after all, and football is our religion. It grounds me, takes me back to my childhood - we lived only a couple of blocks from the football stadium here in town, and we kids watched the pregame show seated on a rock wall at the end of our street. Cars filled with cheerleaders would pass us by, giggling girls, blonde hair sprayed out to here; majorettes in white boots with tassels, batons in hand, would stride by, tall and untouchable; band members would pile out of buses - traffic was everywhere, people searching for the best parking space. When the game began, we didn't need a radio, the play by play announced on the stadium's p.a. system filled the air over our heads. We would play in the darkened street, under the streetlights - the boys mimicking the players we couldn't see, we girls cheering them on, wishing for white boots with tassels that would swing oh-so-sassy when we strode by.

But that was then and that was autumn - today is still summer, the beginning of the official goodbye, but still summer. In Texas, we have plenty of warm days ahead. But it is the last long weekend for a while, the last big gathering until Halloween, and so we say goodbye now, ushering out this summer in style, next to the water, BBQ, boats, and bikinis.

Your photo and celebration sounds and looks divine. I am soaking up these last days of summer and welcoming in the cloak of a new season. Soon my firewood will need to be stacked preparing for the following season, tis the way in the north. So lovely to see your new blog. It is wonderful. Spirithelpers

What a description!! So vivid, reminds me of when I was in high school and on the Drill Team waiting in the stadiums to dance during half time. There is something wonderful about being there with all the lights shining on us in the night. You wrote this beautifully.

And here in Washington, the days are already cool with a crisp edge. But Labor Day weekend is still a toast to summer and autumn both, with a drive into the mountains already changing colors and another drive south where the summer wheat is still gold.